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General Manager Leadership Program: The Cross-Functional Leader

The General Manager Leadership Program: The Cross-Functional Leader shortens the learning curve for new general managers by helping you develop the skills needed to achieve excellence as a cross-functional executive.

General managers face broad responsibilities that challenge even the most talented and effective executives.

The General Manager Leadership Program: The Cross-Functional Leader focuses solely on developing the precise skills new general managers need to reach the highest levels of excellence in their new role.

During the program, you discuss the role of the General Manager with peers from across the world in various industries such as finance, manufacturing, and information technology. You learn how to maximize people and resources, develop a broader understanding of integration across functions, and make accurate projections to enhance your organization's effectiveness and profitability.

Most importantly, you actively practice the skills essential to effective leadership such as questioning, listening, integrating, and communicating, and receive feedback on how to make improvements. You have the opportunity to experiment with new approaches during interactive sessions and to discuss your own professional challenges with the class and faculty. You explore how GMs utilize their emotions in business decisions, manage communications, and shift their view of the organization from working in the trenches to an overall perspective.

The program will teach you to build cooperation among departments and provide the leadership, strategy, and decision-making skills that are essential to your success as a manager. Small-group work allows you to analyze your business challenges and benefit from the insight of professional coaches and peers from around the world.

Gain skills needed to lead effectively across functions.

Increase understanding of critical functional areas.

Develop a customized action plan to integrate learning into practice.

Learn from a specialized team of faculty members, practitioners, and coaches.

Collaborate with a group of diverse and experienced peers.

Upon completion of this program, you will earn 13 days towards a Certificate in Business Excellence. Learn more.

CURRICULUM

Week 1: Cross-Functional Leadership

The challenge of leading organizations

Understand the dynamics of an organization

Learn how general managers can gain perspective on their organizations

Consensus and conflict-based approaches in decision making

Explore how conflict can impact the quality of decisions and their implementation

Experiencing groups and thinking systemically

Develop a deeper understanding of high-performance leaders

Discover how to lead people to excel

Week 2: Maximizing Performance of Individuals and Departments

Personal case situations and practicum in group leadership

Gain insight into behavior patterns that limit personal effectiveness

Practice putting ideas into action

See how accounting ratios provide valuable clues to business performance

Projections and cash management

Recognize the contrast between equity financing and debt financing

Gain insight into actualizing global strategy and organization development

The General Manager Leadership Program is designed for upper-level to senior-level executives with 10-15 years of experience who seek to advance their ability to lead across functions. This program caters to executives preparing for the role of general manager, those in the process of transitioning to this role, and general managers already serving in this function who seek to expand their skills. Participants come from all continents and represent industries including automotive, healthcare, media, and manufacturing. Their titles range from executive director to senior vice president of operations to deputy governor.

William Klepper has served as a consultant to numerous corporations including AT&T, Bausch & Lomb, Bell Canada, Chase Manhattan Bank, Deloitte Touche Tomatsu, DuPont, Ericsson, Finmecannica, General Electric, Hertz, Johnson & Johnson, Nabisco, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, SAP, Sony, and Sun Microsystems. He also has consulted for colleges and universities, school districts and government agencies and served as an advisor to the Wounded Warrior Project. He participates regularly in the New York Stock Exchange Chairman and CEO Forum or the Financial Times / Outstanding Directors Exchange.

Profoundly interested in executive learning, strategic leadership and corporate governance, Klepper is the creator of the Klepper Leadership Model, first published in Key Account Management and Planning (2002). It was then updated as the Integrated Leadership Model in his recent book, The CEO’s Boss: Tough Love in the Boardroom (2010).
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Along with Professor Klepper, additional Columbia Business School faculty contribute to and teach in the program.

RELATED PROGRAMS

Other Comprehensive Management Programs:

Advanced Management ProgramSenior executives take a 26-day journey of intellectual, personal and professional discovery, transformation and growth.

Advanced Management Program 2x2 OptionSenior executives take a journey of intellectual, personal and professional discovery, transformation and growth during two, 2-week modules with program work between modules.

Program Details

Upcoming Sessions

Overview

General managers face broad responsibilities that challenge even the most talented and effective executives.

The General Manager Leadership Program: The Cross-Functional Leader focuses solely on developing the precise skills new general managers need to reach the highest levels of excellence in their new role.

During the program, you discuss the role of the General Manager with peers from across the world in various industries such as finance, manufacturing, and information technology. You learn how to maximize people and resources, develop a broader understanding of integration across functions, and make accurate projections to enhance your organization's effectiveness and profitability.

Most importantly, you actively practice the skills essential to effective leadership such as questioning, listening, integrating, and communicating, and receive feedback on how to make improvements. You have the opportunity to experiment with new approaches during interactive sessions and to discuss your own professional challenges with the class and faculty. You explore how GMs utilize their emotions in business decisions, manage communications, and shift their view of the organization from working in the trenches to an overall perspective.

Program Details

Upcoming Sessions

Benefits

The program will teach you to build cooperation among departments and provide the leadership, strategy, and decision-making skills that are essential to your success as a manager. Small-group work allows you to analyze your business challenges and benefit from the insight of professional coaches and peers from around the world.

Gain skills needed to lead effectively across functions.

Increase understanding of critical functional areas.

Develop a customized action plan to integrate learning into practice.

Learn from a specialized team of faculty members, practitioners, and coaches.

Collaborate with a group of diverse and experienced peers.

Upon completion of this program, you will earn 13 days towards a Certificate in Business Excellence. Learn more.

Program Details

Upcoming Sessions

Audience & Testimonials

The General Manager Leadership Program is designed for upper-level to senior-level executives with 10-15 years of experience who seek to advance their ability to lead across functions. This program caters to executives preparing for the role of general manager, those in the process of transitioning to this role, and general managers already serving in this function who seek to expand their skills. Participants come from all continents and represent industries including automotive, healthcare, media, and manufacturing. Their titles range from executive director to senior vice president of operations to deputy governor.

Faculty

William Klepper has served as a consultant to numerous corporations including AT&T, Bausch & Lomb, Bell Canada, Chase Manhattan Bank, Deloitte Touche Tomatsu, DuPont, Ericsson, Finmecannica, General Electric, Hertz, Johnson & Johnson, Nabisco, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, SAP, Sony, and Sun Microsystems. He also has consulted for colleges and universities, school districts and government agencies and served as an advisor to the Wounded Warrior Project. He participates regularly in the New York Stock Exchange Chairman and CEO Forum or the Financial Times / Outstanding Directors Exchange.

Profoundly interested in executive learning, strategic leadership and corporate governance, Klepper is the creator of the Klepper Leadership Model, first published in Key Account Management and Planning (2002). It was then updated as the Integrated Leadership Model in his recent book, The CEO’s Boss: Tough Love in the Boardroom (2010).
.

Along with Professor Klepper, additional Columbia Business School faculty contribute to and teach in the program.

Program Details

Upcoming Sessions

Related Programs

Other Comprehensive Management Programs:

Advanced Management ProgramSenior executives take a 26-day journey of intellectual, personal and professional discovery, transformation and growth.

Advanced Management Program 2x2 OptionSenior executives take a journey of intellectual, personal and professional discovery, transformation and growth during two, 2-week modules with program work between modules.

Testimonials: Return on Learning

Julia MerkelESPRIT, SVP Global-HR
– “The return on investment is the chance to trigger business and people with the latest research, cutting edge and inspiring methods for evaluation and development, and leadership with collective power.”